Going to a new restaurant for the first time, most of us look for the level of quality in the food, service and ambience on offer, but not necessarily in that order.
It’s how we then decide if a particular place is worthy of a return visit as soon as possible.
After spending much of last Saturday afternoon enjoying the hospitality of Argyle House Camden, along with my better half, I’d have to say this place definitely ticks the return visit box.
Argyle House isn’t just excellent on food, which is very, very good.
The service from their staff really is superb, and it all comes together in a beautifully restored heritage building at Whiteman’s Arcade in the heart of bustling Camden.
But one of the things that really impressed me – yep, I’m old school – was seeing owners Nichole and Morney Schlebusch on the floor, waiting on tables, taking orders, both for food and beverages, having a chat with their customers.
What a great addition they are to the Camden hospitality scene, which boasts its share of personalities over the years.
The building was badly damaged by fire five years ago, but Nichole and Morney have done an incredible job bringing it back to life.
Morney explained that the menu is around 70 percent meat and 30 percent Japanese.
He also promised that the Pacific oysters (Japanese ponzu, salmon roe, lemon and chives) we were about to sample would be the best ones I ever had.
A big claim, but darn it, I admit I couldn’t believe that I found myself agreeing with Morney after trying one.
It’s a cliché, I know, but it really felt like there was a party in my mouth, all the parts so fresh and coming together perfectly before sliding down my throat.
And there was another first when it came to the sashimi salmon, tuna and kingfish on the platter.
The better half has never tried sashimi but agreed to give it a shot this time after a bit of encouragement from me.
It was a thumbs up from her after sampling the incredibly fresh tasting fish that were plated so beautifully by the Argyle kitchen.
At this point it’s worth mentioning, for the record, that we were washing down these culinary delights with a four year old Langmeil The Long Mile Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, which was perfect for the food – and the cool weather.
We were then served a meat sampling plate containing eye fillet, ribs and South African sausage in a skewer, alongside a couple of sides, from seasonal greens, chunky fries and Argyle hasselback (slow roasted potato in beef dripping butter, porcini cream, crème fraîche, biltong crumb and fresh shaved truffle.
The fries were to die for, and the hasselback wasn’t too shabby either, while the greens, I was assured by the better half, were delicious.
As for the meat, it was served with a couple of Argyle dipping sauces and it was just about perfect in taste and tenderness.
The rib meat just fell of the bone and literally melted in the mouth.
There was no room for desserts, unfortunately, but we hope to make up for that at our next visit in a couple of weeks.
Yep, we’re definitely going back to the Aryle House Camden.
For those of you who don’t know Camden, it’s located on level one at 100 Argyle Street.
Opening hours are Wednesday 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm, Thursday 11am-3pm, 5pm-9pm, Friday 11-3pm, 5pm-10pm, Saturday 11am-10pm and Sunday 8.30am-7.30pm.